'BLOGGING ISN'T WRITING,
IT'S GRAFFITI WITH PUNCTUATION!'
.....WELL, GRAFFITI IS DOPE!
Friday, January 27, 2012
ODD FUTURE. GOLF WANG.
AS SHOT BY TERRY RICHARDSON.
THE CREW.....
JOSH. LUCAS. TYLER. TACO. JASPER. LIONEL.
MODELS
MODEL CALL
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28TH
7P @ KEATON'S CUPBOARD
*3126 THE PLAZA*
BOYS: SIZES 4-14
MEN/WOMEN: SIZES 12-24
MODELS NEEDED FOR A 2.12.12 SHOW!
MODEL CALL
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The VOICE (Etta James)
with a voice and personality so big, Miss Etta James will forever be present!
She ain't went nowhere.....
Monday, January 23, 2012
Amen Corner: In Review
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, the pulpit at Temple Israel
synagogue was turned over to an emissary from the St. Paul Baptist
Church, Rev. Greg Moss. So our Saturday morning sermon was punctuated by
a lusty volley of amens and — at Rev. Moss’s special request — a few
spontaneous exclamations of “Shabbat shalom!” But that was hardly
anything compared to what my wife Sue and I encountered that same
evening at Duke Energy Theater, where On Q Productions is presenting The Amen Corner through January 28.
Plenty of amens can be heard in the opening scene at a corner Pentacostal Church, as playwright James Baldwin signals to us that he’s no less interested in immersing us in the spirit of this church’s worship than he is in telling the story of its anointed pastor, Sister Margaret. I had fully anticipated a baptism of amens as soon as I saw that half the stage in Nathanial Rorie’s aptly rickety set design had been devoted to the choir loft and pulpit, with ample space provided downstage for the congregation and meetings of the church elders. What surprised me was that there was no respite from the shower of amens when we adjourned to Sister Margaret’s kitchen. That’s where we learn about her domestic crises, past and present, and the oncoming turmoil in her church, where she will be called to battle if she wishes to maintain her leadership.
Since Sister Margaret’s apartment and the church are only separated by a staircase, there is steady traffic in the kitchen from the pillars of the congregation — and a steady stream of amens in their discourse. These come chiefly from the sternly virginal Sister Moore, who clearly wishes to snatch the pulpit from Margaret’s grasp, and her chief supporter, Sister Boxer, who carries a couple of personal grudges: the pastor has forbidden her husband to take a job driving a liquor truck, and she overtly envies Margaret’s marvelous new GE fridge. When these two loquacious malcontents speak, there are as many amens in their declarations as there are commas and periods.
Margaret’s son David plays a fairly hot piano for the choir, and his mom, naturally enough, sees him as her rightful successor. But there are no amens on his lips, a telltale sign from Baldwin, who found success as a boy preacher before he became an acclaimed man of letters. Sure enough, David has snuck off to hear his long-absent father play trombone at a jazz club, bolstering the reliability of Brother Boxer as the church gossip. Luke will follow not long afterwards, afflicted with TB and seeking to reconcile with Margaret, and David will learn that his pious mom has been lying to him all these years: it was she who abandoned her alcoholic husband for a sanctified Christian life rather than the other way around.
Now three acts are more than enough space for Baldwin to develop his two intertwining plots and the personalities involved. But with an ample songlist that bursts forth in each of those three acts, even amid conversations in the kitchen, pacing and depth can be problematical. Once the domestic crises are set forth, we get one extended shot each at defining the relationship between mother and son, husband and wife, and father and son. Likewise, the ethical controversy over the holiness of Margaret’s pastorship is a bit swift and superficial for a production that clocks in at a hefty 2:52 plus two ten-minute intermissions. Conversely, in Act 3, action seems to drag as Sister Margaret must ready herself to confront her church enemies while, at the other side of the stage, Sunday service is already in progress.
Ruth E. Sloane doesn’t push hard against the operatic ambiance of Baldwin’s script in directing Amen. Under the admirable musical direction of Quentin Bethea, a full choir parades down an aisle of the Duke onto the upstage loft, and they hold forth irresistibly — I was tapping both my feet — as we awaited Sister M’s first appearance. Terry Denise Henry inhabits those pure white robes ethereally as Margaret, perhaps a tad more appealing and likable than ideal but never because she’s mitigating the pastor’s stubborn faults as shepherd, mother, or wife. There could be more favoring toward her mic from the soundbooth than I heard at the Saturday night preview, but Henry’s vocals were strong and pure.
No, if this Margaret appeared overly bathed in righteous light, it was largely because Sloane had nudged her adversaries toward the dark. I can’t remember not loving a LeShea Stukes performance, and this one as Sister Moore is certainly no exception. Yet I suspect she has taken a self-righteous spinsterish busybody and turned her into an aspiring grand inquisitor, decked out in a regal white turban and glaring at everything in sight with gimlet eyes over her ever-present reading glasses. Just wonderful. I’m not as favorably disposed toward Briana Gibson’s puffed-cheek, pursed-lip pomposity as Sister Boxer, which looks particularly overdone as her point about driving a liquor truck gains credibility when weighed against her pastor’s misdeeds. A less overdone approach from Dominic Weaver as Brother Boxer would also be helpful, if only to add shock value to his encounter with Sister Margaret deep in Act 3.
On the other hand, I found all of Sister M’s kin to be pitch-perfect. Sheila Sherrod-Robinson makes the role of Aunt Odessa, Margaret’s sister, look deceptively easy and natural — always on the side of the angels in her urgings and disputes with Margaret or the church elders, always lacking the eloquence or charisma to convince anyone of anything. Predictably, Sultan Omar El-Amin captures the angst of David, as much driven to follow his jazz calling as his mother was driven to follow her sacred calling. If this is the last in El-Amin’s extensive gallery of troubled teen portrayals, a solemn wake should be convened. Most revelatory is the Charlotte stage debut of Melvin McCullough, a rasping hulk of dissipation and decrepitude from the moment he stumbles into Margaret’s kitchen as Luke. Here was a defiant, unapologetic earthiness that was a worthy match for Henry’s serene godliness. I not only believed McClullough’s drunkenness and terminal wheezing, I believed that if you handed him a trombone, he could play.
Baldwin provides one little cameo in the opening service that is especially artful: a young mother, Ida Jackson, comes to church carrying a sickly baby after losing her previous child, desperately supplicating Sister Margaret for help. Cradling the infant in her arms, the pastor’s prescription is absolutely consistent with the actions she has taken in her own life — foreshadowing the humbling lessons about love and family that Sister Margaret has yet to learn. Roshunda Anthony makes a fine debut as Ida, poignantly hammering home Sister M’s inadequacies.
Remarkably objective in its examination of the life he lived as a youngster, Baldwin’s Amen Corner offers a very full evening of rousing music, colorful characters, and meaningful conflicts. Shabbat shalom!
Posted by: Perry Tannenbaum, Creative Loafing
Plenty of amens can be heard in the opening scene at a corner Pentacostal Church, as playwright James Baldwin signals to us that he’s no less interested in immersing us in the spirit of this church’s worship than he is in telling the story of its anointed pastor, Sister Margaret. I had fully anticipated a baptism of amens as soon as I saw that half the stage in Nathanial Rorie’s aptly rickety set design had been devoted to the choir loft and pulpit, with ample space provided downstage for the congregation and meetings of the church elders. What surprised me was that there was no respite from the shower of amens when we adjourned to Sister Margaret’s kitchen. That’s where we learn about her domestic crises, past and present, and the oncoming turmoil in her church, where she will be called to battle if she wishes to maintain her leadership.
Since Sister Margaret’s apartment and the church are only separated by a staircase, there is steady traffic in the kitchen from the pillars of the congregation — and a steady stream of amens in their discourse. These come chiefly from the sternly virginal Sister Moore, who clearly wishes to snatch the pulpit from Margaret’s grasp, and her chief supporter, Sister Boxer, who carries a couple of personal grudges: the pastor has forbidden her husband to take a job driving a liquor truck, and she overtly envies Margaret’s marvelous new GE fridge. When these two loquacious malcontents speak, there are as many amens in their declarations as there are commas and periods.
Margaret’s son David plays a fairly hot piano for the choir, and his mom, naturally enough, sees him as her rightful successor. But there are no amens on his lips, a telltale sign from Baldwin, who found success as a boy preacher before he became an acclaimed man of letters. Sure enough, David has snuck off to hear his long-absent father play trombone at a jazz club, bolstering the reliability of Brother Boxer as the church gossip. Luke will follow not long afterwards, afflicted with TB and seeking to reconcile with Margaret, and David will learn that his pious mom has been lying to him all these years: it was she who abandoned her alcoholic husband for a sanctified Christian life rather than the other way around.
Now three acts are more than enough space for Baldwin to develop his two intertwining plots and the personalities involved. But with an ample songlist that bursts forth in each of those three acts, even amid conversations in the kitchen, pacing and depth can be problematical. Once the domestic crises are set forth, we get one extended shot each at defining the relationship between mother and son, husband and wife, and father and son. Likewise, the ethical controversy over the holiness of Margaret’s pastorship is a bit swift and superficial for a production that clocks in at a hefty 2:52 plus two ten-minute intermissions. Conversely, in Act 3, action seems to drag as Sister Margaret must ready herself to confront her church enemies while, at the other side of the stage, Sunday service is already in progress.
Ruth E. Sloane doesn’t push hard against the operatic ambiance of Baldwin’s script in directing Amen. Under the admirable musical direction of Quentin Bethea, a full choir parades down an aisle of the Duke onto the upstage loft, and they hold forth irresistibly — I was tapping both my feet — as we awaited Sister M’s first appearance. Terry Denise Henry inhabits those pure white robes ethereally as Margaret, perhaps a tad more appealing and likable than ideal but never because she’s mitigating the pastor’s stubborn faults as shepherd, mother, or wife. There could be more favoring toward her mic from the soundbooth than I heard at the Saturday night preview, but Henry’s vocals were strong and pure.
No, if this Margaret appeared overly bathed in righteous light, it was largely because Sloane had nudged her adversaries toward the dark. I can’t remember not loving a LeShea Stukes performance, and this one as Sister Moore is certainly no exception. Yet I suspect she has taken a self-righteous spinsterish busybody and turned her into an aspiring grand inquisitor, decked out in a regal white turban and glaring at everything in sight with gimlet eyes over her ever-present reading glasses. Just wonderful. I’m not as favorably disposed toward Briana Gibson’s puffed-cheek, pursed-lip pomposity as Sister Boxer, which looks particularly overdone as her point about driving a liquor truck gains credibility when weighed against her pastor’s misdeeds. A less overdone approach from Dominic Weaver as Brother Boxer would also be helpful, if only to add shock value to his encounter with Sister Margaret deep in Act 3.
On the other hand, I found all of Sister M’s kin to be pitch-perfect. Sheila Sherrod-Robinson makes the role of Aunt Odessa, Margaret’s sister, look deceptively easy and natural — always on the side of the angels in her urgings and disputes with Margaret or the church elders, always lacking the eloquence or charisma to convince anyone of anything. Predictably, Sultan Omar El-Amin captures the angst of David, as much driven to follow his jazz calling as his mother was driven to follow her sacred calling. If this is the last in El-Amin’s extensive gallery of troubled teen portrayals, a solemn wake should be convened. Most revelatory is the Charlotte stage debut of Melvin McCullough, a rasping hulk of dissipation and decrepitude from the moment he stumbles into Margaret’s kitchen as Luke. Here was a defiant, unapologetic earthiness that was a worthy match for Henry’s serene godliness. I not only believed McClullough’s drunkenness and terminal wheezing, I believed that if you handed him a trombone, he could play.
Baldwin provides one little cameo in the opening service that is especially artful: a young mother, Ida Jackson, comes to church carrying a sickly baby after losing her previous child, desperately supplicating Sister Margaret for help. Cradling the infant in her arms, the pastor’s prescription is absolutely consistent with the actions she has taken in her own life — foreshadowing the humbling lessons about love and family that Sister Margaret has yet to learn. Roshunda Anthony makes a fine debut as Ida, poignantly hammering home Sister M’s inadequacies.
Remarkably objective in its examination of the life he lived as a youngster, Baldwin’s Amen Corner offers a very full evening of rousing music, colorful characters, and meaningful conflicts. Shabbat shalom!
Posted by: Perry Tannenbaum, Creative Loafing
Friday, January 20, 2012
Gia Roxx 106&Park
GIA ROXX THE STAGE FOR 106&PARK, WILD OUT WEDNESDAY!! I MADE THE DRESS, ETHAN&ZOEY MADE THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE HAPPEN!!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
she confessed.
- As shared to me via a facebook message:I wanted you to know I was touched by your individuality and my heart was touched by your performance and your book. I saw you on Suday in Spartanburg, purchased your book, and read it as soon as I got home. You have given me a voice thru my own struggles by sharing your experiences. Don't ever stop sharing or being the unique individual you. I look forward to hearing more from you! AGAPE!Get your copy here:
https://www.createspace.com/3494473
Charlotte 25 Most Stylish
Now Accepting Nominations.....
CHARLOTTE 25 MOST STYLISH
vote for 'Davita Galloway' here:
Monday, January 16, 2012
on some real sh*t
i had the pleasure to grace the stage last night with @quillhiphop
i do believe souls were saved :)
shout out to WYLDAMERICA for the opportunity!!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
THE CHAMP IS HERE
AND THE WINNER OF THE
'BATTLE OF THE SALONS' IS.....
GLAMBAR!!!!!
Hair: GlamBar Charlotte
Makeup: Deborah Smith
Photography: Jamar Caldwell
Wardrobe: Davita 'MissSwatty' Galloway
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Saturday, December 31, 2011
ODE TO 2012
another season has ended, 2011. presently, it's a world-wind because my, how the time flew. this confirms one thing, time waits for no one. but uhhhhh, it must halt a minute longer or two or three as i reflect on the year.... hmmmm, i guess i can share a little:
+relocated back to charlotte
+many business-related opps came my way
+met a slew of interesting characters!!!!
+more tattoos
+fell in love with my family all over again
+witnessed the 'downness' of my friends
+met someone really special
+traveled
+completed book #2
+father remarries
+teamed up with interesting crews
-grandma's dementia worsens
-i had a crohn's flare up
-slightly suicidal (who am i kidding, there is no such thing as 'slight')
-contemplated abandoning my condo
-family bickering
-relationship changed with that someone special
-financial troubles
i can go on and on about the good and the bad, the pretty and the not so pretty but i won't bore you. understand, we all experience 'life' and unless that is taken, i will/you will continue to go through 'things.' what matters is how you face your challenges and how you embrace the successes.....
know that i aint stopping, i aint hiding, i aint punking out of nothing, nothing. know that i am forever grateful, forever getting back up, forever human.
DEAR 2012, I WELCOME YOU.....
i plan to continue to work on me, all of me so.....LET'S PLAY, READY WHEN YOU ARE!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
BlackPower
As our reality includes protests like Occupy Wall Street ,Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is named: The Protester, and issues of color and race still exist, a recently released documentary, The Black Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975, offers extremely interesting footage and commentary on a crucial period in America’s protest history. Director Göran Hugo Olsson weaves together footage shot by a group of Swedish television journalists between 1967 and 1975 documenting the Black Power Movement with commentary from Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Stokely Carmichael, Eldrige Cleaver, Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis, Louis Farrakhan, John Forté, Robin Kelley, Talib Kweli, Abiodun Oyewole, Sonia Sanchez, Bobby Seale, Questlove, Melvin Van Peebles and many others. Laid over a soundtrack also by Questlove, and Om’Mas Keith, history, culture, philosophy and aesthetics of the period converge in a well crafted and satisfying documentary experience. One that leaves the viewer with much to think about and of
course experience some slick seventies style.Now available on Netflix.-Diana McClure.
Credit: HighSnobette
rock and a hard place
as a freelancer, i HAVE to hustle my talent.
HAVE to grind my crafts.
long as the outcome is income.
however, i HAVE tons of ideas for other opportunities and not so much time to dedicate to their development.
what to do?
organization, right?
i wish it were that simple.
my mind is overloaded and in overdrive.
note to self: one step at a time.....
Monday, December 26, 2011
it aint that simple
i am not a saint.
i don't want to be a sinner.
but life is 'trick'y so i'll pimp the sh*t out this b*tch.
how many of you feel like this?
Saturday, December 24, 2011
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